Mar 30, 2011

Parippu Vada (Lentil Fritters)

Vadas are a traditional South Indian snack made with lentils, potato, or gram flour, shaped into doughtnuts or flat discs, and deep fried. Parippu vadas are made with tuvar dal (split pigeon peas), but I have made these with chana dal (split chickpeas) - kind of like an Indian-version of a falafel.

You will need:3/4 cup of bengal gram dal - wash and soak for 3 hours.

Drain the soaked dal, grind to a coarse paste with barely any water. This should be a coarse paste with bits of dal seen in it. (A better way to do it - take about 1/4 of the soaked dal and grind to a thickish puree with little bit of water. Then add the remaining dal, no water, and make a coarse drier paste. I haven't yet tried this, though.)